Saturn is the second largest planet in the Solar System after Jupiter and is also a ' gas giant '. It shares many common characteristics with its neighbour Jupiter, but also demonstrates a number of unique features.
Like its neighbour, Saturn is a rapid spinner. It completes one rotation every 10 hours 39 minutes. As with Jupiter, the result is a planet flattened at the poles, because the force of the spin makes its equator bulge outwards.
Saturn is famous for its rings. Many other planets have this feature, but the rings surrounding Saturn are by far the most impressive in our Solar System.
Despite its huge distance from the Sun (887 million miles or nearly 1,500 million km), Saturn is one of the brightest bodies in the Solar System. This intensity comes from the energy it releases as it contracts under the force of its own gravity.
